Tag Archive for Eyelids

Non Verbal Body Language Dictionary ::S::

by Christopher Philip • March 28, 2010 • 0 Comments

Did we forget a nonverbal term? Suggest it in the comment box or e-mail it direct, and we’ll be ecstatic to add it! With well over 500 terms, the BLP dictionary is growing to be the largest free nonverbal dictionary in the world! Brought to you exclusively by The Body Language Project! Visit our homepage for more free learning.

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Sadness: A raise of the inner eyelids into an inverted “V” accompanied by a lift of the lower eyelids. Often accompanied by lines across the forehead with the mouth pulled downward and a droop in the eyelids. Sadness also sees an overall depletion of energy, enthusiasm, trembling, slowing of metabolism and crying.

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Salute or obeisance: A gesture done by raising the hand with fingers outstretched rigidly to the side of the head near the temple. It is usually done in a military context, but can also be done in ordinary context. The gesture is designed to show respect among rank.

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Sarcasm or sarcastic: These are body language signals that show mock approval or enthusiasm. An example showing sarcasm is a distorted or uneven smile where the mouth is raised only on one side.

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Scanning eye movements: An eye pattern used when gathering information from the surroundings. It is characterized by raised eyebrows and wide eyes to provide the maximum field of view.

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Scorn: Sometimes flashing as a microexpression. It is a combination of anger and disgust that happens by wrinkling of the nose, raising and tightening of the upper lip. To visualize this expression think of a bad smell.

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Scratching: In proper context indicates uncertainty and a lack of knowledge such as when being asked a question. The scratching behaviour is a pain inducer which causes painkilling hormones to be released to create relaxation in the face of emotional discomfort. Other times, scratching is simply to alleviate an itch.

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Scratching the neck: This is a stress related behaviour aimed at pacifying and also protecting since the neck is a vulnerable part of the body. Scratching the neck is done when under stress and when faced with uncertainty.

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Screaming or shouting (a): When motivated by anger, screaming or shouting says that a person has lost their dignity and resolve and says that a person has lost control.

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Screaming or shouting (b): When motivated by happiness screaming signals ecstasy and good fortune. A person might scream when they win a match or are reunited with loved ones.

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Seated body pointing: Directing torsos, legs, feet, arms, hands and head toward those we are most interested in, or agree with the most.

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Seated readiness: A body postures that indicate a desire to take action which is especially useful in sales and negotiation. Examples include placing the hands on the thighs in the sprinters position and leaning forward onto the balls of the feet as if ready to spring up.

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Secretiveness body language: When a person wishes to withhold information from other people. Secretive people often reveal very little about themselves and their personal lives or may keep certain facets of their life private. Secretive body language includes maintaining distance both emotionally and often physically, whispering, guarded posture with shoulders hunched, covering the mouth, body oriented away, pursed lips, tight jaw, frequent glancing down during conversations, eye avoidance, routinely hiding tracks and removing personal belongings from view.

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Security blankets: Any object that is stroked our touched when someone is under pressure. They arise out trying to keep our hands busy or perhaps as a tactile response. Even those that spend a lot of time in front of large numbers of people feel the need for a security blanket. The cuff link is a common choice when crossing an open room or when coming up on stage to perform a speech or accept an award. Other security blankets can include handbags, bracelets, watches, shirt buttons or brief cases.

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Seducer eyes: An intimate gaze that produces attraction in the opposite sex.

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Seduction: The behavioural process resulting in sexual intercourse.

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Self administered hug: When the arms are crossed and wrapped around the body. At times, the hands will pacify by rubbing the shoulders. Hugs, done in this way, indicate a need for reassurance as a mother would sooth a child.

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Self-awareness: The consciousness of how ones self is viewed by others through nonverbal channels. Nonverbal self awareness includes overall attractiveness, marketability, capacity to impress, and having a lack of objectionable characteristics.

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Self branding: The creation of a polished self image such that it increases its marketability. Branding says that in all facets of life, a person is selling themselves, be it to friends, family and at work.

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Self monitors: Defined as the desire or ability to regulate oneself to fit into any given environment. “High self monitors” are more likely to change their behaviour in lieu of the situation and seem to be less consistent across context. This personality type is more likely to mirror others. “Low self monitors” are just the opposite, and remain almost the same across situations.

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Self slapping: When the open palm is quickly slapped against the head and have various meanings depending on its location. For example a forehead slap means that a person realizes they’ve made a mistake and a hand slapping the back of the neck indicates that they feel someone is being a pain.

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Self-motivating gestures: Gestures that indicate an attempt to create better functioning such as tapping the head, drumming the fingers, the chin or a pen, tapping the keyboard, or making circular motions with the hands.

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Sex-coloured-glasses: Because men have twenty times more testosterone than women, they tend to view all cues put out by women as displaying sexual interest. This makes their ability to read proper interest in women clouded.

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Sex flush: A measles-like rash appearing as women (and sometime men) nears orgasm. It appears on the breasts and chest and is found in nearly seventy-five percent of women and twenty-five percent of men. This sex flush is not found at any other time and is not a reaction to temperature.

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Sexual hair play: Hair play is done by women who intent to show off their luxurious hair to men. Hair tosses can be done by flicking the hair over the shoulder, twirling or rolling it and placed on top of the head, running it through the fingers or wrapping the hair around the neck.

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Sexual harassment body language: Any nonverbal body language that offends another person in a sexual manner such as unwanted come-ons, crude sexual joke, eye contact, touching, and so forth. There is much controversy about sexual harassment stemming from the fact that it is defined differently between the sexes. Women feel that any man is grounds to harass whereas men feel that it can only come from women in more powerful position than them (bosses, managers). Women also define harassment from its origin. Meaning that touch from more attractive men is not harassment, but when the same form of touching coming from less attractive men is deemed otherwise.

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Sexual suggestiveness attire or fashion: A person who chooses dress that is exceptionally sexy and revealing. This type of fashion can be worn by a person who is either confident or insecure, but in either case, is trying to gain the attention of others. This type of person is usually self-centered, vain and extroverted. When worn out of context, sexy attire reveals a lack of good judgment. The sexy dresser is also often sexually liberated, but also can be a confident tease.

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Sexy son hypothesis: Women favour men who are more dominant for random “one-night-stands” because they will receive no parental care but will foster “sexy son” as offspring. Women will seek men who are sexier during peak ovulation and “softer” men who make good fathers at other times.

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Shake and wait approach: A technique that helps decide the level of liking that is present. It is done by shaking hands as usual then taking a step backwards and seeing what transpires. Someone that likes the other person will shrink the distance, while those that don’t, will maintain distance and even aim their bodies away. Other times distance is maintained for cultural or personal reasons.

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Shifty eyes or darting eyes: Happens when the eyes dart all over the room to focus on anything but someone else’s eyes and is habitually associated with lying. However, research has shown that most practiced liars hold gaze even more strongly than normal.

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Shoe play: An indicator of comfort and agreement, usually found in a courtship setting done by a woman where the heel of the shoe is removed or the entire shoe dangled from a toe. When agreement and comfort is not established the shoe will be put back on so as to be more prepared to escape.

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Short grabber/finger grabber handshake: A handshake whereby only the fingers make it into the hand. Short grabbers are usually insecure but often try to hide this by coming off as dominant.

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Shoulder embrace: A nonverbal signal of affection where arms are put around another’s shoulders. This might occur between adult men, or between a mother and her child and is therefore non-sexual in nature.

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Shoulder shake: A conspicuous vibration, hunching and raise and lowering of the shoulders in secession accompanying laughter. It is also termed “shaking with laughter.”

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Shoulder shrugs or shoulder rise: A universal expression of doubt and uncertainty. They are done by moving the shoulders upward toward the ears. Shoulder shrugs can signify ignorance, indifference, helplessness, or resignation.

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Shoe play: A cue put out by women who wish to draw men’s attention to their sexiness. It is done by dangling a shoe by the toe or bouncing the leg up and down.

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Sideways glance or sidelong glance or glancing sideways: Done by shifting the eyes to the left or right without moving the head. It indicates hostility when accompanied by appropriate cues in a cluster or attraction/interest when it is done so as to avoid detection.

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Sideways glance over raised shoulder: A sexual signal done by women to draw attention to their desire to be subordinate. It is usually done by lowering the head slightly and “peering up” at the man of her interest.

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Sighs: An exhalation of air accompanied with a low huff or tone. This signifies frustration, being overwhelmed or weighted down, burdened and thoughts of powerlessness. Other times sighs are done at the completion of a difficult task spelling relief. Sighs can be so low as to be barely distinguishable from ordinary exhalation.

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Sign language: A set of visual expressions of the hands, arms, body and face designed specifically to convey meaning from one person to another. Sign language is the primary language for deaf people and is a form of body language.

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Silent language: The set of information which transferable from person to person of which there are no sounds whatever. Silent language is a set of gestures, postures and facial expressions emitted all of the time, by all people regardless of their intentions.

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Situational awareness: Having a sense of where one is at all times with respect to the environment and the people in it. It is a total picture of what is happening with every, or most of the facets going on around a person. A nonverbalist must have a high situational awareness to be a proficient ready of nonverbal communication.

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Skepticism (nonverbal): A trait that serves the body language reader well especially those interested in detecting lies. Being skeptical is what makes readers aware of their surroundings and question other people’s true motives. Taking to elevators with strangers without looking them over, ignoring disheveled or inebriated homeless men, or even the well kept, yet out of place business man, can lead to unwanted results. The skeptical nonverbalist is someone who reads everyone all the time and expects that until proven otherwise, are up to no good. He or she reads people as if they are hiding their true emotions from others for direct gain, or to protect themselves from looking disadvantaged in one form or another. The skeptical reader, seeks to uncover these features in others through reading their total self including their postures, gestures, fashion, facial expressions, eye patterns, and movements.

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Skirt hike: The skirt hike happens completely subconsciously with little, and usually no awareness at all. The “skirt hike” happens by fingering and play with the bottom ridge of the skirt. Other times, the skirt hike happens in a more pronounced way by grabbing the bottom of the skirt and pulling it up a few inches or more, to reveal more leg.

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Slow speech or slow talking or slow talker: A speech trait where the speaker talks at a rate that is slower than ordinary. Can be due to comfort and relaxation, or discomfort. Slow speech can be due to trying to make an important point, anxiousness, confusion, lying, grief, fatigue, deep thought, illness or the influence of drugs or alcohol.

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Smells or olfaction or odors: A very powerful area of nonverbal communication that is rarely given the importance it deserves. This area of body language covers all aspects of odor from those consciously perceived to those which are not such as pheromones. A person can read very distinct habits from a person’s odor. They can detect their hygiene such as if they’ve recently washed their hair, the types of soaps they use, if they’ve brushed their teeth recently or used mouth wash and it has been postulated that a man can detect a women’s ovulation cycle. Studies also show that women prefer men to carry scents of other women as a means of attraction. Scents can tell you if a person smokes, what they’ve eaten and so forth. Environmental scents are also important to the nonverbalist. They tell of recent rain such as wet grass, fresh baking, lingering cologne signaling a foreign presence, pollution or cleaning chemicals and so forth which provide hints as to activities occurring nearby.

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Smiles: Many biologists think the smile had roots as a fearful gesture as a sort of “fear grin”. Smiles are controlled by two sets of muscles which are the zygomatic major muscles, that run down the side of the face to connect to the corners of the mouth and the orbicularis oculi muscles that pull the eyes back. Today though, human smiles are a universally submissive gesture to show we are non-threatening and they also symbolize pleasure, amusement, or anxiety (grimace).

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Smooth movements: Controlled and conscious movements of the hands, arms, feet, head and torso that do not dart or jerk in any way. The voice is steady, low and in control, it does not raise, yell or scream. This fluidity demonstrates confidence, control, authority, trust, and commands respect from others. It says Alpha.

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Sneering or sneer (the): Sneers activate the buccinator muscles located on the sides of the face to draw the corners of the lips sideways toward the ears. Sneering is universal signal of contempt, arrogance, disapproval and disrespect.

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Social dynamics: The study of the interaction humans have with each other inside society at large. To the realm of nonverbal behaviour, social dynamics represents the influence body language has on a group of people inside a given situation.

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Social gaze: Non-threatening eye contact that travels in a triangular pattern from eye to eye then to the mouth making some but infrequent trips to the rest of the body. This gaze is brief, lasting only a few seconds followed by breaks in eye contact.

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Social touching: Touching between friends and family including hand holding, hugging, offering a hand to steady, helping someone with their coat.

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Sociology: Is a realm of study that looks at society and how it functions using very broad disciplines. To the nonverbalist, sociology looks at the effects of body language on social order, its maintenance and its effects.

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Social space zone: A distance of five to twelve feet which we employ as a buffer between people we interact with for everyday relationships that we do not know well.

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Soft voice: A voice that is so quiet it is difficult to make out what is being said. This voice trait is sometimes used to manipulate others who strain to hear what is being said or mean that the speaker lacks confidence and assertiveness. Other times a soft voice implies a quiet confidence from a person who lacks a desire to control a conversation. Other meanings of soft voice includes a withdrawl from a conversation due to confrontation, discomfort or nervousness, grief or sorrow, that a person is lying, forcing a person to move closer (power play), to limit what is being heard, tiredness or illness.

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Sommer, Robert: Distinguished professor of Psychology Emeritus at the University of California, Davis who began researching the use of space in the 1950’s. He’s best known for his book “Personal Space: The Behavioral Basis of Design” published in 1969. He also authored “Expertland”, “Personal Space”, “Design Awareness”, “Tight Spaces”, “Street Art”, “Sidewalk Fossils”, “The End of Imprisonment”, “The Mind’s Eye”, “A Practical Guide to Behavioral Research”, among others.

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Song-like laughs: Also called voiced laughs and are typically sounds such as “ha,ha,ha” or “he,he,he”. Song like laughs are seen as more attractive in both sexes rather than unvoiced laughter.

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Space invasion: Happens when people come to close to another such that it creates anxiety and defensive body language.

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Spatial awareness: The ability to properly control and use space to a person’s benefit. This includes respecting (or disrespecting as in a power play) space zone, their touch restrictions, and even voice volume. It also includes the relationship of the body to nearby objects and a person’s position in a room. To have a poor sense of spatial awareness a person lacks a sense of their surroundings. To the nonverbalist it includes a cognition of how space is used with the people around them so as to read hidden messages of like, dislike, intimacy, etc.

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Spatial empathy: An informal term used by expatriate workers in Hong Kong and then later into Japan and China who were typically from Australia, England, France and the United States. Even though the city itself was very westernized, the walkways and public transport system were very crowded by comparison. Preventing intrusion into their personal space was proven difficult and at times impossible. Spatial empathy therefore describes a state or mind whereby people are either aware of the needs of peoples space or are not.

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Spatial needs: The relative amount of area that is reserved for a person of which no one else is permitted to enter.

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Speech hesitation: Differing from pauses, speech hesitations are time wasters imparted by people who lack the knowledge to properly and directly address concerns. They usually use filler words such as “hmms” and “ahhs” or “like.” Speech hesitation says that a person lacks confidence.

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Speech-independent gestures: A deliberate body language cue that is a replacement for a specific word or short phrase which are usually culturally specific. Examples include shoulder shrugs for “I don’t know”, waving for “Hello” or “Goodbye”, Index finger to lips for “Be quiet”, etc.

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Speech-related gestures: A deliberate body language cue that accompanies speech serving to punctuate, emphasize and to regulate the flow of speech.

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Splay or splaying: When the body is made to appear larger by spreading out the arms and legs, leaning back and puffing out the chest. It is a high confidence and high dominance display. It often indicates territoriality and in the wrong context disrespect and indifference.

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Spontaneous body language: Body language that occurs automatically, unintentionally and without conscious awareness. These include various visceral fear responses as well as other nonverbals which are leaked. Throughout life, people are taught to manage these naturally occurring gestures, postures and signals but they are usually readily occurring in young children and teenagers such as when the stare and point at unique looking people. Extroverted individuals also emit more spontaneous body language when compared to introverted individuals. Spontaneous nonverbal language is the most useful type since it represents true underlying emotions rather than deliberate body language.

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Spreading body language: When the body takes up more space rather than less space. For example, the arms might be placed over the back of the chair rather than crossed and the legs might be spread apart. It indicates dominance and comfort.

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Square jaws: A masculine facial feature that has been tied to female preference for one-night-stands. It is also rated by women as a feature predictive of less stability in child rearing (fatherhood) and so men with square jaws are chosen more often during lustful affairs, rather than for long term relationships.

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Square table seating: Square tables can form defensive, competitive and cooperative arrangements depending on seating location. Cooperate by sitting side by side across a corner and competitive by facing head on across the table. They are ideal for short meetings, or to create superior or subordinate relationships.

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Stalling body language or stalling tactics: Body language that delays decision making. It is usually found as the time nears to sign contracts, fill out paper work, or purchase orders. It includes behaviours such as cleaning glasses, taking a smoke break, sipping a drink, adjusting clothing, or chatting about topics that are insignificant.

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Stammering eyes: The action of keeping the eyes closed for prolonged periods of time. Can sometimes give liars away.

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Standing at attention: A standing position where the legs are together, neither one in front of the other. It signifies “no comment” and a person who has neither committed to stay or go. It is used more often by women than by men, and it happens when meeting with higher ranking people indicating subordination.

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Standing square: When people who speak to each other stand facing each other directly. It is a confrontational orientation similar to those nearing, or in physical conflict.

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Stardust chairs or stardust seating positions: These are the seats flanking the head of the table which are those with the second most powerful. They are called stardust because they are close enough to the leader that his star power or “dust” is likely to rub off on them. When these chairs are usurped it signifies that a person is a wannabe leader rather than one deserved based on performance.

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Stare or gaze fixation or eye threat: An offensive eye pattern where the eyes often remain unblinking and threatening or leer at another person for an uncomfortable length of time. It is as if the eyes are assaulting and of which the eye contact is done without permission and of which violates the moral looking time and so produces, and is the result of, negative (but sometimes sexual) feelings.

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Stare test: A test to verify if a person is purposely overstepping the moral looking time. It involves making eye contact initially with a stranger, then frequent and randomly looking back to see if the stranger is still looking.

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Starter’s position (the) or Sprinter’s position or knee clasp (the) or Sitting at the edge of the chair: A readiness gesture and an intension movement indicating a desire to end a conversation and leave, or take some other form of action. It is done by placing both hands on the knees when seated and leaning forward. While standing it happens by placing the hands on the hips.

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Stature and height: One of the most important physical qualities in maintenance and creation of dominance especially in men. Studies show that the relative height of a man translates directly into earning potential and sexual attractiveness as defined by women. Women are also affected by height, except in a much different way. Women who are taller are seen as less desirable by men, but also as more dominant.

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Steinzor effect: When larger groups meet in the competitive arrangement with many people facing one another across a rectangular table, it is most often the person to the front of the speaker directly across the table that talks next, and rarely the person to their side. This has been termed the “Steinzor effect” and was named after the researcher Dr. Bernard Steinzor in 1950 who first discovered the occurrence.

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Stealing looks: A look that is stolen is one that happens by looking to the sides without turning the head. Both sexes do it to check out a sexual prospect, a rival while at the same time remain safe from detection.

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Step to the right handshake technique: A method of thwarting the palm-down dominant handshake presented by a power player. It involves stepping forward with the left foot as you reach to shake hands, then stepping forward with the right foot so as to move across the body and into the other person’s personal space while twisting their hand from downward facing, to even and then upward facing. Finally, the left leg is brought forward. The goal, and the result of this technique, is to turn what would have been a submissive palm up handshake into a palm even or palm down dominant handshake.

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Stiff arm: A defensive arm distancing posture that happens by thrusting the arm forward and away from the body with the palm face vertical in a “stop” type signal in order to indicate to another person that they have overstepped personal space boundaries.

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Stiff arm and thrust forward handshake: A handshake that occurs by thrusting forward after meeting so as to put another off balance. Comes from people who require more space than ordinary.

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Stiff upper-lip (the): Done by compressing the lips tightly and indicates thought process when someone is trying to come up with an alternate idea.

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Stroking body language: Gestures that include touching the face, cheek, head, neck, shoulder, arm, hand or leg in response to negative stimulus in order to create comfort and to pacify.

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Stride (the): A cool but dominant gait type characterized by unusually long strides.

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Strutting: A swagger while walking that displays confidence, dominance and usually sex appeal. Men are said to strut when trying to appear masculine in the eye of women.

Women can also strut, but it’s not as typical as it is for men. Shoulders back, head up, as if swimming through the air moving the upper body back and forth.

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Stubborn or stubbornness: An emotion delineating a lack of desire to cooperate conveyed through body language by gestures and postures. The cues include arm crossing, a closed leg posture, staring eyes or down-turned head, a tight mouth and sometimes even pouting.

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Submissive body language: Any body language that forces the one to take up less space. It can include shoulders hunched, arms folded inward or crossed, or legs together. The tighter the body position the more submissive the body language.

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Substituting: One of the six main categories of body language. This is body language that is used to directly replace verbal words. A person might use body language rather than words when the words are embarrassing to speak, too difficult to speak, a person can’t find the right words so uses gestures or wishes to avoid conflict. Substitution includes such body language as turning the toes and torso away from a person when wishing to end a conversation.

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Sub-typical: A person or group of people who fall on the left side of a gradient or bell curve in terms of their actions or popularity. They are below average.

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Suckling: The mouth and lips are full of nerve endings which, when stimulated, provides tactile gratification and comfort. However, anytime the fingers go to the mouth or play with the side of the mouth or lip, it’s a retrogressive action indicating insecurity since the gesture is an attempt to pacifying as an infant would.

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Sudden nonverbal changes: Are nonverbal patterns that, in a moment’s time, change. They indicate the presence of a telltale stimulus and one worth noting to the body language reader.

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Supplication: Refers to body language that is designed to lower inherent self value in the eye of someone else who holds something desirable in hopes of obtaining it from them. Nonverbal supplication involves leaning forward to show interest while speak with someone, rather than leaning back, forcing them to chase. There are some cases where supplication is warranted such as conceding to higher ranking officials or employers, but others where it is ill advised, such as in dating, where the creation and maintenance of social value is paramount, especially in men.

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Suprasternal notch or neck dimple: The dimple located just below the neck between the Adam’s apple and the breast bone which women habitually cover when nervous, distressed, threatened, insecure, fearful or uncomfortable.

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Super female signals: The exaggeration of features that are characteristic of the female sex, and of which men find particularly appealing. For example, super sexual signals include breasts that are not only large, but very large, feet that are not only small, but very small, hips that are not only wide, but very wide. This extends to long hair, long eyelashes, long legs and hairlessness (except the head).

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Super-typical: A person or group of people who fall on the right side of a gradient or bell curve in terms of their actions or popularity. They are above average.

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Suppressed expressions: Facial expressions that appear subconsciously, but are quickly impeded or modified so as to conceal them from view and present a more desirable expressions. Reading these cues can indicate honest feelings.

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Surprised body language: A state of mind usually accompanied by fear, excitement or pleasure. Body language indicating surprise include stepping backwards or away to avoid the stimulus, ducking or head covering, extending the arms and legs outward, jumping upwards, dropping the mouth, widening the eyes, gasping or screaming.

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Surprised facial expression or surprised: Characterized by an upward curve of the eyebrows, widening of the eyes to reveal the whites and a drop of the jaw.

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Suspicious body language or suspicion: Nonverbal cues that indicate that a person is wary of another’s motives and so is pensive. Eye squinting and having focused eyes that track a target are two ways suspicion is conveyed. Other body language indicating suspicion includes furrowed brows, turning the head sideways then upwards as if thinking, peering over glasses and tightening of the lips.

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Swagger: A way of carrying the body that emits extreme confidence and self esteem, strength, charisma, a sense of masculinity, and even danger. Having swagger implies that a person has excellent and attractive body language including posture and movement, eye patterns and voice tonality such that it creates envy in men and awe in women.

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Sweating: A limbic response due to high stress or anxiety. It usually occurs in the armpits, hands and often the forehead.

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Symbolic stripping: Includes loosening ties, removing jackets or over-shirts, rolling up the sleeves, undoing buttons and so forth. The nonverbal message it entails is mixed since it depends on context. It can deliver a sexual message in a romantic situation, getting down to business at work, or comfort when done around friends.

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Symbols: Learned gestures that represent particular sentiments.

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Symmetry: Having equal proportions from the right to the left side. Extensive scientific research shows that symmetry is a key element to beauty, especially as it applies to the face.

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Synchrony: When the body’s of two people seem to have a flow or to be moving in unison. Synchrony happens when the arm and leg movements mirror or echo the person or persons they are interacting with, when verbal cues are copied, or even when attire is matched building commonality. Synchrony indicates agreement of ideas and that a common ground has been established.

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The Body Language Project is the result of a decade of personal research including a thorough review of over 60 primary scientific research journal articles. Learning body language forms the perfect foundation for success in ALL your communication.

If you are only picking up on what is being said, you are missing more than half of the message.

For more information on BodyLanguage be sure to check out: BodyLanguageProject.com and the Ebook – The Body Language Guide to Dating, Attraction and Sexual Body Language.

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Non Verbal Body Language Dictionary ::G::

by Christopher Philip • March 23, 2010 • 0 Comments

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Gait or bipedal gait: Refers to the style or mechanics of locomotion in humans and animals. Scientists have identified thirty six different types of gait in the human species. They include the hobble, the mince, the glide, the bounce, the stride, the wiggle, the dart, the prance and the run.

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Gazing adoringly: An eye pattern that stems from infatuation and deep love and affection that lacks any negative emotion whatsoever. The eyes and eyelids relax and move freely from each eye to the mouth and lips, with brief glances to the rest of the face including hair and ears. Gazing adoringly happens during courtship between couples and between mothers and their newborn infants as they bond to each other.

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Gaze avoidance or averting eyes: When a person purposely prevents or avoids eye contact, either to show disinterest, to scorn, or to show a difference of opinion or even submission.

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Gazing: A gaze is an inviting display of warmth where positive emotions are attached to the face making it appear softer. Opposite to the gaze is the stare which acts like daggers shooting invisible arrows into the face of another. Eye gaze reveals cues to interest, attention, affiliation, intimacy, approval, dominance, aggression and openness to personal involvement.

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Gaze omission: Defined as a failure to look at someone without intending to (rather than avoidance).

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Gravity defying body language: Body language that is a measures a person’s exuberance and demonstrates that they feel happy. It includes raising the arms, having a bounce in the step, swinging hands while walking, having an upright posture and so forth. When sports players score a goal, they celebrate by expending energy that seems to be in no short supply by flinging their arms in the air.

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Genital framing: A posture where the hands and fingers draw attention to the genitals. Men can genital frame by placing their thumbs in belt loops and aiming the fingers toward their penis and women can place their hands on their hips aiming the fingers in the same direction.

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Genuine emotions: These are facial expressions that usually only last a fleeting moment, only to quickly disappear. Facial expressions that last too long and are poorly timed with events are usually insincere.

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Gesticulation: The use of the hands to add colour and meaning to language. Gesticulation includes movements of the hands such as hitting motions, cutting, begging and so forth.

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Gestures or gesture: A form of nonverbal communication or body language that produces specific messages and meaning. They include movements of the hands, face, and body, but do not include other facets of body language such as proxemics, facial expressions and postures, which are ways in which the body holds itself to display meaning. Gestures include emblems, that are used to replace specific words in speech, and illustrators which are used to colour language, in addition to sign language which is an entire set of body movements used to replace verbal speech altogether.

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Glide (the): An elegant gait type characterized by short but deliberate movements of the feet.

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Greeting gestures: These includes motions designed to greet others and are different across cultures. They include handshaking, bowing, waving, full salaam, namaste, cheek kissing, hugging, hand kissing and so forth.

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Greetings: These include gestures aimed at welcoming someone after a separation or done upon meeting someone for the first time. They include waves, handshakes, hugs, salutes, bows, curtseys, and so forth and are culturally specific.

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Grief muscle: The French call the area between the brows, the “grief muscle” and is activated to pull the eyebrows together to express both pain, as well as when you wish to inflict it. This muscle is sometimes flashed across the face as a microexpression.

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Grief or sorrow: A general lose of positive energy which tends to override other emotions. Signs of grief include tears, listlessness, inability to complete common tasks, isolation, apathy, downcast eyes, relaxed facial muscles, slumped body, motionless or slow movement.

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Grin or smirk: This smile indicates smugness and arrogance. It is a tight lipped smile with the addition of a degree self satisfaction for good measure. The smirk has accompanying dominant body language such as head back, shoulders back, open postures along with dialogue riddle with exuberant pride.

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Grinder, John, T.: Graduate of the University of San Francisco in the early 1960’s and bests known for his work in neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) with Richard Bandler.

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Grooming and preening: These have two unrelated message in body language. One meaning says that a person is keeping their bodies clean and presentable to show the world that they are in good mental health since it is one of the first characteristics that becomes lax when disease sets in. Preening can also be used to show detachment from conversations through eye contact avoidance and attention displacement which is the case when eyes avoid contact with another in order to remove imaginary lint.

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Group dynamics: The study of how people interact in clusters drawing on fields such as psychology, sociology and communication studies including nonverbal body language. When nonverbalist examine people in groups, a complex array of body language occurs of which is not present in dyadic situations. When looking at groups it is possible to determine hierarchy, social status, friendliness or lack thereof, attraction and repulsion, amongst many others.

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Guiding body language: Using a hand to lightly push on another person’s back to move them in a desirable position, pulling someone in when shaking hands, using a finger to beckon someone closer, or using alluring eye contact are all ways to influence people to move in ways desirable.

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Guillaume Duchenne: French researcher Guillaume Duchenne was first to research smiles using electrodiagnostics and electrical stimulation to distinguish between real and fake smiles. The honest smile has also been named after him; the “Duchenne smile.”

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Guilty knowledge: Nonverbal body language that shows discomfort such as hand wringing, foot and hand withdrawal, pacifying behaviours, leaning away, stiff postures and movements, unsmiling lips, furtive looking about, restlessness and tension due to the stress associated with lying.

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Gustatory processing: A secondary way of processing information like visual and auditory except the primary means involves the sense of taste. It falls out of the normal realm with which people process information they receive but is occasionally referred to as a vestige. People will use terms such as the following when they refer to their gustatory sense: This just rolls off the tongue. This deal is sweet like candy. Don’t be so bitter. What a juicy story.

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If you are only picking up on what is being said, you are missing more than half of the message.

For more information on BodyLanguage be sure to check out: BodyLanguageProject.com and the Ebook – The Body Language Guide to Dating, Attraction and Sexual Body Language.

Share and Enjoy:

Non Verbal Body Language Dictionary ::F::

by Christopher Philip • March 23, 2010 • 0 Comments

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Face gaze: A type of gaze pattern where a person directs eyes to another person’s face (over say their eyes or body). It can be done in several ways and produce varied feelings depending on the pattern by which it occurs.

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Face platter (the): A positive gesture used in courtship done by resting the chin on the backside of the hands and propping it up, essentially “serving the face on a platter.”

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Facial action coding system or FACT: The Facial Action Coding System is a system that deals with forty-six facial movements classified into more than 10,000 microexpressions. The manual details how the face behaves based on the muscles that control it. The guide is a combination of still images, digital video and written descriptions and is of interest not only to lie detectors, but also to animators, computer scientists who create facial recognition software and other personnel who need to know how the face moves and why.

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Facial protective response: An involuntary reflex action which produces a tight closing of the eyes or wincing coupled with a lowering of the head or a sharp turn sideways.

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Face wince: Lowered eyebrows due to a sharp pain.

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Facial expressions: A very important form of nonverbal communication that involve the face in displaying various emotional states. Facial expressions can be voluntary, and at times, involuntary, and others still can flash instantly and disappear just as fast which are called microexpressions. Facial expressions are diverse, and sometimes universal, such as the six expressions – fear, anger, disgust, sadness, surprise and happiness. Research has shown that women are much more perceptive of the minute changes in the faces than men and so tend to be more adept at reading facial expressions.

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Facial irregularities: Include blemishes such as moles or warts. If conspicuous such as a mole at the tip of the nose it can signify that a person is confident in themselves, have been raise in a culture that sees physical appearance as being a low priority, a desire to resist conforming to society, or is rebellious.

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Fake sexual indicator of interest (fsIOI): Positive sexual body language of interest that are not genuine usually delivered by women (but sometimes by men) who wish to gain favours, such as free drinks, money and so forth from the opposite sex. This is usual for women who work in tip-based industries like severs in bars, restaurants and especially strip clubs who’s sole purpose is to act as if they wish to sleep with their patrons. Fake indicators of interest can also come from men and women in everyday life who wish to gain access to various forms of resources.

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False smile or phoney smile: Where the eyes play no part, that is there are no wrinkles in the corners of the eyes as in the Duchenne smile and the mouth is stretched across the face, teeth often bared, with a tense jaw. This smile is not genuine.

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Fashion: Clothing is a language in and of itself which provides all sorts of cues about its wearer. It can indicate sex, age, occupation, origin, social class, personality and beliefs. Clothing can also tell others where we are headed as well as what we are about to do. In body language fashion is important to those we wish to impress and also to those whom we pass along the way to meet them.

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Fastidiousness body language: A personality trait that shows through with nonverbal cues includes perfectly pressed shirts, polished shoes, well trimmed beard or eyebrows, precisely positioned pocket scarf and so forth. These traits reveal a character by matter of degree. Within limits fastidiousness reveals egotistical, structured, inflexible, unimaginative, vain, and concerned about the impressions of others. In an extreme form it reveals obsessive compulsive disorder. When people lack fastidiousness it can be due to a lack of money (with a frugal nature), but only in so much as what is worn is well maintained and cleaned despite is heavy use.

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Fear or fearful body language: An activation of the flight or fight response through the autonomic system due to extremely negative stimuli. Nonverbal symptoms of fear include wide eyes, screaming, hands covering the face, a frozen posture, flushing, gulping, looking around nervously, clutching the hands together or gripping an object, blocking the body with the hands, shifting backwards, turning away, grabbing other people, shaking, heavy breathing, holding the breath, walking quickly, stiffness, licking the lips and taking tentative steps.

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Fear facial expression: Fear is characterized by a quick upward movement of the eyebrows formulating wrinkles in the middle of the forehead, raised eyelids and open mouth. Fear and surprise are easily confused, but fear uses the muscles between the brows called the “grief muscles” as they are activated to express pain as well as when you wish to inflict it.

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Fear response: A primal visceral set of nonverbal cues that stem from fear. These cues are usually very honest and are seldom faked which makes them extremely reliable and useful. Fear responses are usually displayed subtly through gesture reduction but can also be extreme where the full body ceases movement and breath is seemingly held.

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Fear smile or fearful smile: A smile where the lips are stretched to form a rectangular shape. These muscles sometimes pull the corners of the mouth upwards slightly to produce a grimace. Accompanying the lips stretch is a contraction of the eyebrows together coupled with an upward lift and widened eyes.

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Feedback signals: Nonverbal body language occurring as a two way from person to person as an indication of the level of rapport and agreement being experience. The signals are wide and varied including head nodding, arms crossing, torso orientation, eye contact and so forth.

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Feigned disinterest: A manipulative body language technique that uses negative body language to attract attention. Turned the back to an attractive female or walking away during a discussion to induce chasing are two examples of feigned disinterest. It is a way to conceal true emotions, yet achieves similar or even better results that what might result from genuine cues.

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Felt smile: A real genuine smile where they muscles surrounding the eyes tighten.

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Fetal position: An extreme form of closed posture where the knees are pulled into the body and hugged. The abbreviated form of this position is to pull the limbs in closer to the body and across the centerline as in the “self hug.”

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Fidgeting or fidget: Fidgeting is an indication of boredom as the body is given signals to take action and leave the conversation – like the body revving its engine in preparation. Fidgeting is therefore a substitute to walking or running where neither is socially acceptable or the situation warrants otherwise. Fidgeting includes repetitive behaviours such as tapping the toes, swinging the feet with one crossed over the other, or drumming the fingers.

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Fight or flight response (the): Better termed the freeze, flight or fight response since it truly reflects the order by which the actions take place. It is telling in body language because bodies that are threatened often show varying degrees of a freeze response, which can be subtle, such as a reduction in gesturing to the more extreme (yet still subtle) such as locking the ankles around a chair. From there, bodies will tend to indicate a desire to flee by orienting toward doorways with toes and torsos. This is followed by fight, but only under extreme circumstances, where bodies tense up, fists clench and chins protrude.

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Fig leaf position: The fig leaf posture by either sex is a closed body position. It blocks the private mid section from view. This posture occurs by placing one or both hands in front of the crotch blocking it from view. The hands are usually clasped together. It shows insecurity and occurs when someone is in a novel environment or around people they don’t know and aren’t familiar with.

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Figure four seating position (the) or the ankle-knee cross: This seating position occurs as the ankle is pulled over the knee of the opposite leg forming the figure four position. The figure four is an open, dominant posture, and a seated crotch display. It is rarely performed by women especially those wearing skirts, but favoured by macho men wishing to impose themselves. When performed by women, it is as an attempt to be one of the boys.

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Figure four leg clamp (the) or figure four leg lock or leg clamp: Done as above where the ankle is pulled over the knee of the opposite leg forming the figure four position except in this case the arm grabs the ankle to lock it in place. It indicates a stubborn individual who’s aim is to resisting opinions.

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Filler sounds: Verbal cues that are used to replace actual words when no words come readily. Filler sounds include “mmms” and “ahhs” and “like.” Use of these sounds make a speaker seem less confident and knowledgeable.

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Finger moving up the chin: The index finger is moved up the outside of the cheek from the jaw line toward the temples. This is an evaluative gesture, but one that leans toward a negative outcome (critical judgement).

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Finger pointing or finger pointer: Pointing fingers is a universal gesture that is negative in nature because it is as if the person is throwing spears. Finger pointing usually appears during aggressive verbal arguments.

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Finger spreader: The hands are held out and finger splayed apart facing palm to the audience. This is an attempt to make contact with the entire audience.

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First impressions: One of the most important and longest lasting characterization of a person is the result of the first few seconds after meeting. The first impression is formulated quickly and is long lasting requiring a heavy amount of effort to change once established. People are said to create first impressions in under 5 seconds making them very important. First impressions are created by nonverbal characteristics such as style of dress, hygiene, how the body is carried including posture, voice qualities if a person is speaking, and so forth.

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Fist bump: A greeting gesture where two closed fists bump up against each other knuckles first. It is a signal of cohesion showing solidarity and affection without a great deal of intimacy. It is usually reserved as a gesture between macho men and is not a submissive gesture. The fist bump is also a growing way to reduce the spread of germs since the knuckles are usually much drier making them less prone to bacterial growth.

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Fish and lure: Sexual signals put out by available women in a broadstroke fashion, absent of eye contact and direction, sent off into the room at large in efforts to attract solicitors.

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Fist clenching: Holding the fists clenched shows aggression, defensiveness and sometimes a readiness to attack. First clenching sometimes happens when no physical attack is immanent and is a restraint posture.

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Five cardinal rules of body language: To learn the true story about a person using body language one must use the five cardinal rules which are the ‘rule of four’, congruency, context, baselining, and intuition.

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Flamboyance or flamboyant style: A nonverbal term used to describe clothing with bright colours, shocking and unique attire, eye grabbing jewelry, and other articles that produce interest. They can include funky hats, big belt buckles and gaudy earrings amongst others. People who wear this type of dress are seeking attention. Extremely flamboyant people are sometimes insecure, lonely, needy and bored or dissatisfied with their life but at other times they are confident and self-assured. The nonverbal message created by flamboyance includes creativity, artesian, well-to-do, lack of practicality, noncomformist, don’t care what others think provided they have an audience, independent and flaky.

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Flashbulb eyes: Happens by dramatically opening the eyes as big and wide as possible. The eyebrows usually arch in unison as well to make the eyes appear even larger. The cue is usually done to indicate surprise and positive emotions such as being excited to see someone, or have been given a promotion.

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Flash frozen: When movement in the body of a person suddenly stops. Happens due to the presentation of a stimuli that creates high immediate anxiety.

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Fleeting expressions: Facial expressions that are very brief in duration. They are habitually reliable and honest cues that are genuinely felt. Usually they occur in only one-fifth of a second. They are sometimes referred to as microexpressions.

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Flirtation: A form of human interaction between two people expressing a sexual or romantic interest. Flirting body language is numerous and varied and includes hair tosses, preening, smiling and touching.

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Flirting: A body language transaction between people that indicates sexual interest. Flirting includes romantic eye contact, increased proximity, touching, laughing or telling jokes, smiling, grooming and conversations with sexual overtones. Women flirt through various nonverbal displays such as hair tossing, lip licking and displays of the neck and men use displays of dominance such as crotch displays and appearing larger through body spreading. Flirting nonverbal communication is not always a prelude to sexual intimacy, it is sometimes used just to test interest, or for pure amusement.

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Floor apportionment: The turn taking that happens between people when speaking which is controlled by various nonverbal signals such as nods, grunts, shifting of gaze, lip parting (as if to speak), tone of voice, and so forth. Floor apportionment refers to a speaker “having the floor.”

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Flow: Body language is like verbal and written language; it has structure. Body language flows, it has its own rhythm, vocabulary, grammar and punctuation. Part of the way things come together is connected to congruence, meaning that the overall body of language comes together seamlessly to produce coherent messages.

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fMRI: is the abbreviation for functional magnetic resonance imaging which enables researchers to create maps of the brain’s networks as it processes thoughts, sensations, memories, and motor commands. The fMRI measures blood flow and hence measures which areas of the brain are using up oxygen faster and are working harder. Proponents of fMRI machines in lie detection claim that if you can get hits in all three zones of the brain at the same time you can catch liars.

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Foot forward leg stance: A standing position where one foot is placed in front of the other and the weight is shifted to one hip. The pointed foot indicates where the mind wishes to go.

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Foot kicking or jiggling or leg kick response: Foot kicking while seated shows that a person has heard something negative. It is a response to discomfort and is a direct consequence of the fight or flight response.

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Forced laughter: Laughter that is meant to disguise hidden anxiety or disagreement, be polite, or in efforts to connect with new people.

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Forehead bow: The forehead bow is a posture done by artificially lowering the head, then looking up from under the eyebrows. It is a submissive posture and can be done by anyone but is especially prevalent during courtship. When done by women toward a man it is a “come hither” look and when done by children shows shyness and submission. It has roots in the bow (greeting gesture).

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Four minute rule: The four minute rule says that life-long impressions about people are formulated in the mind’s of others within the first four minutes of meeting someone. Once a judgment has been past, people will vigorously resist changing it making that time block the most important.

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Follower (the): A type of client who wishes the salesperson to take charge. They are unsure of what they are looking for, usually ask inappropriate questions, show submissive body language, show timidity and nervousness and take up less space than normal.

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Forehead rubbing: Rubbing the forehead is an indication of an internal struggle or discomfort.

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Friendly clients: A type of client that wishes to build rapport, they use plenty of eye contact, touch, and like to chat. They wish to be sold on the entire package including the sale pitch and the salesman.

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Friendship touching or friendly touching: Touching aimed at creating or maintaining bonds such as back rubbing, hugging, placing the arm around the back, shaking hands, etc.

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Fred Inbau: The most influential manual regarding suspect interviewing was written by Fred Inbau, Reid and Buckley in 2001 “Criminal interrogation and confession” and is the handbook used by police officers in training.

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Freeze, fight or flight: The fight or flight response is a misnomer especially as it applies to body language since it is not actually how humans or other animals respond to stress and danger. Most animals, humans included, will naturally sequence freeze, flight and flight in that order. Freezing is important to assess the situation, for how does one know what they are running from, and in what direction, if they don’t first identify the object of their fear and this is reflected in many forms through nonverbal cues.

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Freezing or stiffened movement: A flight or flight response where through visceral processes the body ceases up and significantly reducers or eliminates normal fluid movement. This is due to fear, anxiety, or lying and accompanies negative stimuli. The degree of freezing is proportional to the degree of stress caused. The freeze response is designed to reduce the attention that movement otherwise attracts. This is called “hiding in plain sight.”

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Frowning or frown: A downward pull of the corners of the mouth and eyelids showing displeasure or disapproval.

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Frozen hands: Hands that seem to suddenly stop moving can sometimes indicate that lying is taking place but is more reliably and indicator of discomfort. Frozen hands is part of the freeze response due to fear.

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Frustration or frustrated body language: Nonverbal cues which are exhibited by people who feel a lack of power to rectify an issue. They can either be “confrontational” such as frequent direct eye contact, repeating phrases several times, violations of personal space, heavy gesticulation, pointing and shrugging or they can be “surrendering” such as sighs, rapid exhalation, grimacing, hands on the hips, hands on the head, melodramatic movements, rolling the eyes, shaking the head, throwing the hands in the air, shrugging, turning and walking away.

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F%$k me eyes: A sexual eye pattern usually best accomplished by women who indicate to men that they wish to have sex with them. When most obvious the eye patterns make women appear predatory.

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Fugitive (the): A state of mind wherein the body indicates a desire to flee. The body takes up closed body positions and leans back and away from whomever they are with. This indicates boredom or a desire to leave, hence the term fugitive.

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Full body hug or embrace: One of two types of hugs. This one is reserved for sexual partners and occurs with full chest to chest and hip to hip contact.

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Full body steeple, catapult (the), or the hooding effect: Occurs by placing both hands up and behind the head while seated. It is an extremely dominant and possibly arrogant display. The full body steeple is common to professionals such as lawyers, accountants, managers, bosses, and others that feel superior then their counterparts.

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Full lips: When the lips are relaxed and plump opposite to lip pursing. This nonverbal cue indicates true contentment.

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Full salaam: A greeting gesture performed by touching the chest just above the heart, bringing the hand up and touching the forehead with the fingers and then sweeping the hand up and out.

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Furrowed forehead: Frowning done by creasing the forehead and brow indicates anxiousness, sadness, concentration, concern, bewilderment or anger.

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If you are only picking up on what is being said, you are missing more than half of the message.

For more information on BodyLanguage be sure to check out: BodyLanguageProject.com and the Ebook – The Body Language Guide to Dating, Attraction and Sexual Body Language.

Share and Enjoy:

Non Verbal Body Language Dictionary ::E::

by Christopher Philip • March 22, 2010 • 0 Comments

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Ear blushing: Reddening of the ears due to emotional stress.

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Ear grab or ear rub or ear rubbing: The ear grab refers to a subconscious desire to “hear no evil” and is done by reaching up and pulling the ear in response to hearing or saying discomforting things.

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Echoing: Is like mirroring where similar body postures are replicated, but of which happen sometime later. It is a technique that makes the rapport building process more subtle. In echoing, postures and gestures are not concurrent with what is going on with others, but instead happen after some time has elapsed. To be effective, echoing happens within thirty seconds to a minute of separation, but can even happen with several minutes of separation, where only subtle rapport is felt.

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Ejector seat position: A sitting position where the hands are placed on the thighs near the knees and the body leans forward onto them indicating a readiness to leave. One foot might also be extended forward in the direction one wishes to leave.

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Eibl-Eeibesfeldt, Irenaus: Born in 1928, he is the founder of human ethology and has contributed many studies regarding human behaviour.

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Ekman, Paul: Ekman was born in 1934 and is noted for his extensive work on facial expressions and emotions. His key finding is that facial expressions are universal and not culturally determined denoting a biological or inherent origins rather then learned or cultural. The key emotions include anger, disgust, fear, joy, sadness and surprise.

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Elective physical characteristics: One of two types of outer physical traits that a person might have from which a person might be judged (the other being nonelective). An elective trait includes the type of fashion chosen, tattoos, piercing, hygiene, hair style, use of make-up, accessories, and so forth. These are important cues to the nonverbal reader since they are chosen by the wearer and so can predict underlying emotions, characteristics and personality about a person. These elective characteristics tell about who a person would rather be.

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Embarrassment (nonverbal): Nonverbal signals that indicate discomfort due to being out of place or being put on the spot with unwanted attention. It is frequently confused with anger, defensiveness, or nervousness because people often wish not to be perceived as embarrassed. It includes signals such as blushing and trembling, in addition to submissive postures such as lowering the head, turning the shoulders inward or away, avoiding eye contact, nervous laughter, shaking the head, and a freeze response which includes reduced movement overall, less gesturing and a loss for words or fleeing so as to escape the negative stimuli.

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Emblems: Quotable gestures that have a direct verbal translation which are culturally specific which can be used as replacement for words. The middle finger is an obvious gesture to Westerners and so too is the peace signal (or V-sign) which can also mean victory or and insult in other cultures.

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Emotional body language: Any body language that serves to display feelings such as fear, anger, sadness, timidity or shyness, disgust, and happiness.

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Emotional commitment: In body language it refers to the lack of objectivity a nonverbalist might experience due to a premature prediction. Because people have fallible traits, they may have a deep desire to maintain an inaccurate assessment instead of modifying their predictions as new information is presented.

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Emotional downtime: Research shows that every three seconds, on average, people ‘slip away’ to be with their own thoughts and internalize what is happening around them. This ‘downtime’ allows our brains the time it needs to process, the information that is happening all around us. People that are taking downtime will exhibit characteristic body language such as appearing blank in the face, pauses in breathing, subtle chewing of the lips, or very brief eye freezes or glazing over.

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Emotional intelligence: Abbreviated EQ is a relative measure of a person’s awareness of emotions in others as well as their relative ability to deal with them in a positive way. A part of EQ is the understanding of emotional communication coupled with the ability to emphatically convey emotions to others.

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Emotional short-circuiting: A primarily limbic response that overrides logical thought sending a person into fits of anger, panic, fear and so forth, preventing them from doing constructive work and instead sending them into various unproductive behaviour eluded to through nonverbal channels. Only a well tuned individual such as those in the armed forces, police, paramedics, firefighters and other high stress professions can overcome emotional short-circuiting from occurring.

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Emotional suppression: Occurs when a person tries to suppress or hide emotions from others especially through their nonverbal channels.

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Emotions: Most researchers agree that the following six emotions tend to be recognized by all cultures: happiness (enjoyment), distress (sadness), anger, disgust, surprise and fear.

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Emphasis: Gestures that usually indicate honesty though greater than normal commitment. They are “over-the-top” and have a higher amplitude that ordinary gestures and might even be repeated several times. Emphasizing gestures also makes them more memorable and therefore more useful when trying to deliver important information.

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Emphatic gestures: Gestures that reinforce spoken words such as finger jabbing, batoning or chopping hands, hand clapping, foot stomping and so forth.

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Encroaching: Body language that takes advantage of proxemics to violate a person’s personal space and territory. It involves standing too close, standing over someone by exploiting height differences, touching when un-welcomed, and even raising voices or the volume of music to violate the privacy and comfort of others.

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Endorphins: A natural painkilling hormone that is released to sooth the body as a result of touching from others or the self and high physical stress or strain. Self soothing or stroking such as rubbing the hands, the arms or the hair are nonverbal cues indicating a need for endorphins to sooth and that stress is present.

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Energy Displacement: When someone talks about energy displacement and body language they are talking about movements that spawn relief. For example, someone that is nervous or excited will rub their legs, but they can also rub their hands together or stroke an object vigorously. The action gives them something to do and also allows them to release some of their pent-up energy.

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Enthusiasm (nonverbal): Refers to the relative amplitude that is carried through on the nonverbal message. We say that a person is enthusiastic when they gesture with exaggerated motions, commit to them throughout their message, use different variations if messages are misinterpreted, and sometimes even repeat them. Using arms in speech such as pointing, hitting the fist against the palm, jumping up and down, raising the voice and flashing the eyes, are just a few examples of showing enthusiasm. Enthusiasm has been positively tied to honesty in nonverbal messages.

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Environmental cues or artifacts: These are objects that form part of a person’s habitat (house, office, etc.) which provide clues to their character and disposition. They include a person’s automobile, their house and how it is decorated, their accolades in their office, photographs they keep on the wall and so forth.

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Erythrophobia: A term applied to a medical condition that creates blushing due to the fear of blushing. Blushing is a reflex controlled unconsciously by our sympathetic nervous system, but in people with this condition the mere fear of blushing causes them to blush, and so they blush much more frequently with minimal stimulus. In body language, it is a misleading nonverbal message since the conditions by which they occur are somewhat detached from a regular person. In other words, the condition produces blushing that does not indicate severe stress or discomfort.

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Escape movements: Any body language that indicates a desire to leave a situation. The most common type of cue includes pointing the toes toward the doorway. A second cue is casting the eyes in any direction other then conversation at hand to seek ways of exiting.

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Ethology: From the Greek work “ethos” meaning “character” is the scientific study of animal behaviour, however in recent times it has been extended to human behaviour and social organizations. Because of its origins, it is a subtopic of zoology. The study of ethology draws from many other disciplines including ecology, evolution, neurology, physiology, and when applied to humans, psychology, sociology or biopsychology. Ethology follows animal emotions, animal cultures and sexual behaviour. A large part of the framework by which behaviour is typed is based on evolution by natural selection. When ethology deals with humans it strongly relates to inherited or natural body language.

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European leg cross (the): A sitting position whereby the leg is crossed neatly over the other. It is the most common seating position in European, Asian and British cultures.

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Evaluative body language or critical evaluation: Gestured that indicate that a person hasn’t yet, but is working toward a decision. They include chin stroking or hand resting on cheek or chin, removing or putting on glasses, neck rubbing, stoking the side of the nose, looking upward and so forth.

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Evasive actions: Nonverbal body language such as distancing, turning away, eye avoidance and turning the feet toward an exit that indicate a desire to escape a stimuli.

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Evil eyes: Unblinking staring eyes fill with contempt.

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Exhaling or “blowing off steam”: A rapid expulsion of air indicating tension or frustration.

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Expansive movements: A dominance driven response to appear larger and more authoritative. It includes leg and arm spreading, puffing out the chest, placing the hands on the hips, and so forth. Men are usually those who use expansive movements whereas women typically use diminutive movements which are the polar opposite.

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Extended eye blink or extended blink or extended eye closure: The extended eye blink is performed by arrogant individuals as they temporarily shut off the outside world as if it were irrelevant. They are sending a message to others that what they are doing and feeling isn’t worth their energy and thought and that they either bore them, or they are superior to you. The extended blink is a form of eye blocking which protects a person from distasteful images and ideas.

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Extravagance: A person who habitually goes over the top with the objects and events in their life. This type of person is usually more concerned about what other people think and have a desire to be accepted. Someone can be said to be extravagant if they own expensive toys especially if they are rarely used.

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Extravagant dresser or extravagant fashion: A type of style which is more focused on style rather than on comfort. This type of dresser is image conscious, suffers from poor self-esteem and has a desire to be accepted by others. Extravagance includes expensive watches, colour coordinated accessories, manicured nails and expensive haircuts.

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Extroverts: People that become energized by stimulus and seek out noisy and busy environments. Extroverts have a high tolerance for stimulus and require a lot to keep themselves amused. Amusement parks, busy downtown areas, any place with lots of movement and loud noises make the extrovert feel at ease.

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Eye accessing cues: A technique stemming from NLP that assesses thoughts based on eye movements. For example, eyes up and left indicates a visual imagined thought which can provide clues to lying, whereas up and right indicates visual remembered.

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Eye aversion: Eye aversion is used to prevent other from resorting to an attack response and prevents others from seeing us as a threat. Subordinates commonly avoid eye contact with dominant individual to indicate submission and respect.

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Eyeball assault: When a person becomes overly aggressive with eye contact. Eye assault happens when men appear to undress women, or stare other men down. Women might appear to give “dirty looks.” Assault is a matter of length and type. Lingering stares of unbroken eye contact is the high of eyeball assault. Eyeball assault violates the moral looking time.

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Eye blink rate: Refers to periods of excitement as it relates to an increase in blinking. The more we blink the more we are prepared for action as we keep our eyes moist. Pronounced eye blinking can happen during sexual arousal and attraction or while under pressure. A rapid series of eye blinks can also indicate an inner struggle or distress.

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Eye blocking: A term used to describe eyes that are constricted by squinting, covered with the hands, or shielded in any other way, in response to negative stimuli.

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Eyebrow cock: A mixed eyebrow movement where one eyebrow is raised while the other is lowered. It represents both aggression and fear at the same time due to the division of high and low, and when mixed, indicates suspicion or skepticism.

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Eyebrow flash: The eyebrow flash has been studied for decades most notably by Eibl-Eibesfeldt and has been shown to be a long distance universal social greeting. It is a sort of nonverbal “hello”. The eyebrow flash happens very briefly and lasts only about one-sixth of a second.

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Eyebrow hold: Happens when the eyebrows raise and pause for a second when someone seeks an approval gesture such as a head nod or vocal agreement. It indicates a lack of knowledge or even helplessness. Politicians and children do this often when they seek approval, it says “So, what do you think, have I don’t a good job?”

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Eyebrow(s) knit: The eyebrows are raised simultaneously and drawn inward toward each other producing both horizontal creases in the forehead and vertical creases between the eyebrows. It signifies intense grief and anxiety.

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Eyebrow lowering: Eyebrows that are lowered indicate confrontation, anger and aggression, but if they are dropped low enough and kept low, they indicate deep weakness and insecurity.

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Eyebrows shrug: The eyebrows are raised, held for a moment, then lowered. It signifies mild, yet unpleasant surprise and may be used in speech to emphasize certain important points.

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Eye coding: Nonverbal communication done exclusively through eye contact and eye patterns. Eye coding is the conveyance of meaning and information between two or more people, usually women (and gay men). It is especially applicable in PUA where women will approve or disapprove of the pick-up of others in their group based on looks alone. In other words, eye coding is when women verify the impressions of their friends of the man who has approached. Conveyed meaning include “I think this guy is cute/creepy”, “We should leave”, “I’m okay, you can go” and so forth.

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Eye contact: Refers to two people looking directly into each other’s eyes (versus their toward their face, mouth or body).

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Eye direction: Eye movements are a key component of NLP whereby eye direction outlines thought process. For most right-handed people, eye movement up and to the left is a signal of accessing a visual memory, movement up and right means that a person is trying to construct a visual image. Eyes either right or left, but still level, indicate an auditory process such as remembering sounds and words. Down and left indicate internal dialogue or self talk and down and right indicate a tactile or visceral feeling. When the eyes are straight ahead, unfocused or dilated they signal visual or any sensory information.

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Eye flash: The eye flash lasts on average for only 0.75 seconds and is a momentary widening of the eyelids during a conversation. It includes no involvement of the eyelids. The widening is usually wide enough to reveal the sclera which is the whites of the surrounding the iris. The eyeflash when given by a speaker, emphasizes specific words being spoken and can serve to change the meaning of a given word or phrase. It normally accompanies adjectives rather than any other parts of speech, and women use it more often them men.

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Eye flutter or eye fluttering: An increase in the rate of blinking in response to arousal, nervousness or concern. The eyes flutter in response to an internal struggle.

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Eye-gaze: Happens when the gaze is directed toward the eyes of another but of which that person might not reciprocate (as in mutual gaze).

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Eye gaze behaviour: Eye patterns that show hidden meaning and hidden thoughts.

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Eye glasses body language: Eye glasses carry many stereotypic nonverbal messages, most of which are positive. Researchers have found that subjects rate wearers of glasses are more intelligent, knowledgeable and studious. In fact, they are attributed with an increase in IQ. In contrast, when women wear glasses with provocative attire they conjure images of naughty librarians and so carry multiple meanings. Eye glasses though can also decrease social quotients when the remaining nonverbals don’t measure up producing an image of nerdiness.

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Eye movements: Originated by American psychologist Grinder and Bandler and part of NLP – eye movements, specifically directions, are useful in predicting channels of thought accessed by a person. They can signify recalling sights, smells, tastes, or tactile memories. When people remember things they saw, their eyes will move upwards, if they recall something they heard, they will look to the side, emotions are recalled by looking down or to the right, and when accessing constructed memories, people will look down and to the left.

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Eye rolling or eye shrug: This cue is done by rolling the eyes around in a semi circle from bottom to top, or looking straight up. It says disbelief as in “I can’t believe you just said this, you are a fool”, contempt, sarcasm, and a lack of respect.

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Eye rubbing: Occurs as the hand comes up and rubs the eye with the eyelid closed. This is widespread gesture indicating a negative thought and disbelieve in what is being said. The underlying thought is that a person “can’t believe what they are seeing.”

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Eyes defocused or eyes unfocused: When the eyes are unmoving and stare blankly. Indicates that attention is focused inward rather than outward.

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Eyes flutter or batting eyes: When the eyelids are opened and closed in rapid succession. Used to invoke feelings of protectiveness in others by appearing more childlike.

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Eyes glistening: Eyes that appear moist due to active tear ducts. Indicates arousal that is an order less than that which produces actual tears. It can show passion, love, anguish, distress, or bereavement.

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Eyes multi-blink: A rapid eyelid movement open and closed when a person is on the verge of tears.

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Eyes narrowing or eyes squinting or furrowing: When the eyelids are compressed constricting the eyes. Indicates contempt, distaste and distain.

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Eyes super-blink: An exaggerated closing of the eyelids that is slow in speed but has a high amplitude. It is used to indicate feigned surprise as in “I can’t believe what I’m seeing.”

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Eyes weep or crying: When the eyes produce secretions due to extreme pain or joy.

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Eye widening: Eye widening is a positive nonverbal cue indicating that someone is observing positive stimuli that bring them joy and happiness. The size of the eyes directly indicates how positive someone is about a topic or other stimuli.

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If you are only picking up on what is being said, you are missing more than half of the message.

For more information on BodyLanguage be sure to check out: BodyLanguageProject.com and the Ebook – The Body Language Guide to Dating, Attraction and Sexual Body Language.

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Non Verbal Body Language Dictionary ::A::

by Christopher Philip • March 19, 2010 • 1 Comment

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Absorbed actions: Body language that is passed from one person to another through culture and hence observation. It is a form of mirroring and happens unconsciously. These sets of nonverbal movements vary from culture to culture and group to group. Take the “gangster” walk by example where an exaggerated bounce is added to the step – this is absorbed from others.

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Abrazo: A term originating in Latin America that describes a brief hug between men. It says “I like you.” It is done by pressing the chests together and engulfing the back of the other with the arms.

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Accenting/Moderating body language: One of the six main categories of body language. This type of body language is aimed at enhancing, amplifying or emphasizing a specific verbal message. In other cases it can be used to soften a point and make it less salient. Gestures include pointing, using the hands to show how big something or an idea is, using a fist chopping action in unison with an important point, fist pounding to display anger, or a honest smile and a bounce in the step to display happiness while speaking of a loved one. —————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Accidental touching: Touching that happens without meaning between random people usually in busy or crowded environments, or alternatively, done out of conscious awareness but of which is laden with meaning such as a woman might do on a man she finds attractive by brushing up against him.

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Active listening: The opposite of passive listening where a person reflects on what is being said through nonverbal indications. An active listener holds good eye contact, orients toward the speaker with their head or torso and nods their head appropriately demonstrating undivided attention. When listening is done to the extreme it is called emphatic listening. Active listening also usually has so form of light touching to build a connection.

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Achiever (the): One of three types in business. They arrive on time and won’t want to waste a minute. They keep time, don’t stray off topic and leave as soon as the meeting is over.

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Acting (a): A poker term whereby players act weak when they have a strong hand, and act strong when dealt a weak hand. It is a beginners strategy and unsophisticated.

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Acting (b): A nonverbal term that describes a person who is playing a role that misrepresents their true honest selves. We say that politicians are “acting” when they display honest body language when they are in fact lying, or when a person who is shy and timid acts confidently during a job interview. Acting does not always involve polar opposites, and can be done by a person in more minute and specific situations. —————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Active attraction: A man or women who oozes attraction signals without effort. Men who have active attraction will seem to have high confidence and physical attractiveness such as ideal build and height, have style, personality and especially good body language such as excellent eye patterns, will walk with confidence, be relaxed and hold their ground. Women who have active attraction will exude sexual cues, they will have above average looks such as hour-glass figures, large breasts, will dress provocatively and have social personalities, they will also emit flirty nonverbal sexual signals regardless of a attempt to attract. —————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Adaptational mirroring: Mirroring that is done intentionally and with consciousness to either put someone at ease or to create discomfort. The goal of adaptational mirroring is to manipulate someone else’s emotions for their own benefit.

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Adaptors: Include variations such as postural changes or other movements that occur at such a low level they often happen without awareness. They are frequently made to adjust ones body and to make someone more comfortable by relieving physical stress. Plenty of unwarranted emphasis was placed on adaptors as hidden meaning but today we see them as merely movements which serve a purpose. An example includes scratching the nose to satisfy and itch which is a movement of purpose, it doesn’t have any hidden meaning. —————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Adornments: Decorations of the body including tattoos, jewelry, make-up, elaborate clothing and so forth. Adornments are designed by the individual in order to portray a specific quality and character.

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Adrenal glands: Also called suprarenal glands, the adrenal glands are located on top of the kidneys. This endocrine gland is responsible for producing the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline (epinephrine). These hormones are linked to the flight or fight response and so are connected to visceral body language.

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Affect displays: Occur in synchrony and within the rhythm of speech and emphases certain words or phrases and are integrally connected to our speech and thought. They are used to reveal our emotional state and can show enthusiasm if we are happy, or if relaying somber information sadness. Examples of affect displays include facial expressions such as smiling, laughing, crying or frowning.

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Affection (nonverbal) or affectionate or loving: Nonverbal signals that display liking such as hugs, kisses, back rubbing, adoring eye contact, handshaking, blowing kisses, increased proximity and submissive body language such as head tilting and neck exposure. —————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Affiliator (the): One of three types in business. The affiliator is generally a woman or sociable man who is focused on group cohesion and building relationships. They arrive early and make a point of checking in with everyone and making sure everyone is happy and taken care of. They will set up meetings to foster cooperation and will often stay behind to answer any questions. They make lots of eye contact, smile often and will show tension if signals of conflict arises. Their voice will often be calming and hand movements will be used to appease everyone.

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Aggressive body language: Aggressive body language includes nonverbal language that prepares the body for a real or figurative attack. It includes making the body loose or tenses and making the body appear larger and more threatening. Aggressive body language can happen by clenching the fists, finger pointing or flared nostrils and so forth.

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Agreement indicators: Nonverbal communication serving to show that a likeness of mind is present. Agreement is shown through open body language such as arms uncrossed, leaning inward and ankles unlocked. Not all times do nods, “mhums” and smiles, show agreement however, sometimes they merely indicate that a person is being heard.

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Alerting or announcement gestures: Those nonverbal signals that tell others they wish to speak such as raising a hand or motioning, taking in air or making eye contact.

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Alpha female: Similar to the alpha male, other females in their community or sub-community look up to her, she makes decisions for the group and other women look up to her. In humans, the alpha female will be the most listened and obeyed socially as dominant body language for women is much less potent although some dominant body language will still appear.

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Alpha male: Found in all social animals. The alpha male is the individual in the community or sub-community whom others defer to and follow, he makes the decisions for the group and other’s look up to him. In animals, the alpha is sometimes the only one who secures breeding rights. In humans, the alpha male is that which holds dominant body positions. He is normally relaxed, with open postures, he may form a steeple with his hands or rest his arms at the back of his head to display his superiority.

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Alpha you (the): The conscious manipulation of the self to produce the best possible person in the view of others. It includes various nonverbal, people and sales skills to yield above average results in personal relationships, business and life in general.

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Amygdala: A region of the brain that in accompaniment with the hippocampus and thalamus influences fear, rage and aggression along with friendship and love. It has been shown to be a key player in the creation of emotion and closely tied to our bodies. Fear responses are carried to the thalamus which then produces anxiety and alertness within the freeze response. The amygdala decodes the information received from our senses and initiates adaptive behaviours through connections to the motor system (our body). Research shows how this area of the brain is particularly adept at reading facial emotions and decoding them. The amygdala is responsible for various nonverbal signals due to the root emotions it creates.

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Androstadienone: A chemical signal released by men and found in their perspiration said to affect women and homosexual men in a sexual manner. Researchers have found that androstadienone is able to change mood, sexual arousal, and even brain activation. It also commonly added to male perfumes and fragrances. While the chemical itself lacks a direct link to overt behaviour it does affect underlying physiology include hormones and psychological patterns providing root causes for behaviour. Thus, the chemical itself is the nonverbal message.

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Anger: Characterized by a downward pull of the eyebrows and narrowing of the eyelids. Lips may tighten or press together and the nostrils may flare.

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Ankle lock or foot lock (the): Happens when the top of one foot locks around the leg of the other while seated or standing or when the legs are wrapped around the legs of a chair. It indicates a negative and defensive attitude.

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Ankle lock (standing): Done by raising and locking the ankle behind the calf of the supporting leg. This is a mainly female posture and one that spells defensiveness.

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Ankle cross or scissor cross or ankle-ankle cross: Indicates that the person is holding a negative emotion, uncertainty, fear or is generally uncomfortable or timid. Adding to this, the feet might be pulled in under the chair withdrawing emotionally even further. In other context it is modest and formal.

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Annoying alpha (the): A man/woman who is overly concerned about coming across as the main alpha, yet instead of appearing confident, really comes off as cocky. They might take up too much space, become boisterous, and order people around.

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Anthropology: The study of humans in all respects, from socially, evolutionarily, behaviourially and especially culturally. Anthropology is a source of study for body language as it provides context and origins of movements as it relate to purpose.

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Apocrine glands: Located in the groin, armpits, mouth, eyelids, back of the knees, wrists, and palms. These glands release a chemical called androsterone in men, which is chemically related to testosterone, the male sex hormone. Androsterone is (weakly – not strongly proven) linked to sexual attraction and is unperceivable consciously, when it is effective it works without awareness.

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Apologetic smile or lopsided smile: When there is unevenness across the face and the context is appropriate it says “Wish I hadn’t made that mistake.”

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Appease: Refers to the desire to concede to an aggressor through submissive or compliant body language such as shoulders turned inward and head down. Smiles are often referred to as appeasement expressions.

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Argyle, Michael: Born 1925, he was recognized as a social psychologist. His interests compelled him to study gaze and other nonverbal communication, social skills, happiness and social class and his book “The Psychology of Interpersonal Behaviour” became a best-seller.

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Arm crossing: Arms as they relate to non-verbal meaning are like shields. They can block and shank ideas from entering just as well as they can protect against swords and arrows. Using the arms across the body in a fold is like cutting off access to our core where our heart and lungs are present.

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Arm crossing with clenched fists: Happens by crossing the arms and clenching the fists underneath them. This posture indicates defensive hostility and anger nearing outright aggression.

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Arm freezing behaviour: A fear driven response that reduces or eliminates movements by the arms. In children, it can indicate the presence of abusive parents or relatives, and in adults indicates that a stressful or emotional stimuli is present.

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Arm gripping or gripped crossed arms: Happens as the person grabs each arm with the opposite hand as they cross their arms. It symbolizes tension and is common for people waiting for bad news or waiting for a dentist appointment. It is similar to other forms of self-hugging as it protects the body from exposure and provides comfort. This posture shows both negativity and restraint, meaning that a person is ready and expecting to face a negative outcome and isn’t going to relax until that news comes.

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Arm over the shoulder: A type of hug gesture done by tossing the arm over the back of another. It is a friendly type gesture signifying camaraderie.

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Arms forward: A signal that contains a context specific message. Having the arms forward can mean that a person wishes to hug, to fight if fists are clenched, to repel if the palms are facing vertical toward an opponent or begging if palms are turned upward.

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Arms up posture: A gravity defying nonverbal cue done in triumph or victory such as winning a match or scoring a goal. It is done usually quickly and short in duration where the arms are thrust stiffly upward into the sky so as to draw as much attention to the victor as possible.

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Arm twister handshake: Part way through an ordinary handshake the hand is twisted underneath into the submissive palm up position. Someone who does this is absolutely committed to being on top and dominating.

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Arm withdrawal: When the arms are pulled inward toward the body rather than away. It indicates a lack of agreement or a difference of opinion.

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Arousal: Defines changes in the autonomic nervous system including changes in heart rate, blood pressure, sweating, temperature, breathing, flushing and blanching. Arousal can be due to negative and positive stimuli.

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Arrector pili muscles: Microscopic band of muscle tissue that connects hair follicles to the skin that when stimulated by cold air or fear, stand on end. When we have feelings that send shivers down the spin, the arrector pili muscles are being stimulated.

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Arrogance or arrogant body language: Body language that indicates that a person feels superior to others and that one wishes to separate themselves from the crowd. An arrogant person wears expensive clothing or dress more formally, will act aloof, bored or pretentious. Arrogant people often preen, glance in mirrors to check their appearance, trying to be the center of attention, make grand gestures, keep greater distance from others, stop listening to the conversation of others, make sexually suggestive movements, boast of accomplishments, avoiding eye contact on purpose and holding the head high with the nose pointed upwards. Arrogance indicates that a person is insecure with themselves and is often over-competitive with others.

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Artificial smile or pretend smile: A fake smile where the muscles surrounding the eyes play no part.

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Asymmetry: Gestures such as shoulder shrugs, or facial expressions such as smiles, that are not equal on both sides indicating incongruency or dishonesty.

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Asynchrony: A barrier to good communication. It is a lack of synchrony, or the relative similarity, in the bodies of two people. It shows a difference of opinion.

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Attraction triggers: Cues in men and women that produce feelings of attraction within the opposite sex. These cues stem from fertility in women and resource acquisition in men and are tied to social value. They are evolution in origin brought about through sexual selection. Attraction triggers include physical looks including fertility, personality, social alliances, and nonverbal signals of confidence, charisma, and overall worth to the opposite sex. The value placed on these triggers is relatively person specific and highly sex specific.

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Attentive body language or attentiveness or pensiveness: Cues that indicate that a person is actively paying attention, is interested and engaged. They include such factors as head tilted at forty-five degrees, leaning inward, proper eye contact, greater stillness, chewing a lip or pencil, furrowing the brow, stair into space in concentration, looking upward and scratching the head.

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Audience eye contact: Eye contact that is directed toward a large group of people to create interest in them and liking as well as to create a more authoritarian and effective presentation.

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Auditory learners or auditory communicators: Account for about 25% of the population. This group of people prefer to hear the information through oral presentation, lectures and speeches. Oral learners can be identified because as they learn, they will play music, listen to a television or radio or if that is distracting to them in particular they will play sounds containing white noise by running a fan or listening to soothing sounds of the ocean. Auditory communicators use phrases such as: Maybe we should tone thing down. Here me out, okay? That sounds right. Listen to the plan I have in mind. We can’t whisper a word to anyone about this. This has a ring to it. Can you speak to this? We should announce this to everyone. Are you listening? We should all voice our opinions. It’s like music to my hears. It’s clear as a bell. That strikes a cord with me.

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Authoritative body language or authoritative posture: Nonverbal communication that says “I am in charge.” It can include hand positions like palm down (rather than palm up), hand steepling where the fingers touch to form a bridge, head back and looking down on others, a lowered voice, raising height by taking a taller chair, sitting at the head of the table, or using compliance testing to see if someone will do as you indicate by taking the path of least resistance.

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Auto contact or self touching: A term used to describe gestures such as stroking the beard, rubbing the hands, tugging the ear, massaging the throat, pulling the fingers, rubbing the back of the neck and so forth, which is meant to sooth the body and create comfort. Women habitually use self touch far more often than men.

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Autoerotic touching: Touching that is done to the self driven by sexual thoughts. It is a term used to describe when women are seen stroking their own lips rubbing their upper arms, cheeks, thighs, hips and waist. Autoerotic touching is usually to satiate an internal desire by performing what one wishes to experience on ones self instead rather than having it done by someone else which is risky. It also creates interest through teasing and prepares the body for eventual touching by drawing blood to the surface creating sensitivity.

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Autocratic bosses: We can tell if our boss autocratic if they are attached to the status artifacts around them. Their desk will be used as a barrier protecting them from intruders, they will have cleaver title markings on their desk or door, and usually have trophies or accolades on their walls, their dress will be formal and expensive and their posture will be rigid and straight. Friendliness is the foe of the autocratic boss so he will keep you at arms length, keep conversations on task and hold expressionless faces. If you get out of line, he will use his body language to put you back in your place with harsh voice tones and eye contact. Often autocratic bosses are seen as unloving, unfriendly or inhumane.

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Automatic gestures: Motions of the hand that happen without conscious awareness, usually during speech to add emphasis and colour. Hands might motion when trying to explain something complex or when talking about something excitedly to add emotion. Automatic gestures can happen by down-stroking the mouth when uncomfortable, or wiping the nose with the index finger when stretching the truth. Often gestures that happen out of conscious awareness tend to be more reliable and honest.

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Autonomic nervous system: The ANS is the part of the peripheral nervous system that acts as the control center for various operations in the body below the level of consciousness. It controls visceral operations such as heart rate, digestion, rate of respiration, salivation, perspiration, pupil diameter and sexual arousal. The ANS is extremely important to the nonverbal body language reader specifically because the operations occur without the permission of the conscious mind making them very honest and reliable cues. While the ANS controls inner functioning, the consequences are seen externally and can be read.

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Autonomic signals or automatic signals: Involuntary stress-induced physiological behaviours that includes shaking, increased heart rate, pupil constriction, vomiting, fainting, blushing and breath rate. These are nonverbal cues that are impossible to consciously control under normal circumstances with the exception of heart rate which some individuals have conscious control, and breath rate, which almost everyone does despite a propensity for breath holding under high stress or hyperventilating.

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If you are only picking up on what is being said, you are missing more than half of the message.

For more information on BodyLanguage be sure to check out: BodyLanguageProject.com and the Ebook – The Body Language Guide to Dating, Attraction and Sexual Body Language.

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